TWELVE apprentices who have spent the past year being mentored by senior leaders from Balfour Beatty and its supply chain as part of the Founder’s Pledge, have gathered to celebrate their achievements at a graduation ceremony.
The event was hosted by Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty group chief executive and founder of The 5% Club, and was attended by UK skills minister Baroness Jacqui Smith.
Launched in March 2023 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of The 5% Club, the Founder’s Pledge aims to tackle apprenticeship dropouts, which currently affects nearly 50% of apprentices in the UK. As part of the Pledge, Leo Quinn personally awarded £1,000 to each of the twelve apprentices, who were paired with senior leaders from their own business who provided careers advice, skills development, and resilience-building.
The ceremony, held at the Institution of Civil Engineers, provided an opportunity for the apprentices to come together to mark the completion of their year-long mentorship programme with their mentors, company CEOs, families and friends.
The twelve apprentices are as follows:
- Anthony Jordan, groundworker apprentice, mentored by Tim O’Sullivan, MD of Danny Sullivan Group
- Michael Kinnane, service engineer apprentice, mentored by Charlotte Bennett, people director of Sunbelt
- Rupert Forster, laboratory and associated technical activities apprentice, mentored by Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty group chief executive
- Jasdeep Singh, accountancy and taxation professional apprentice, mentored by Sat Nijjer, CEO of Fortel
- Millie Hopkins, business administration apprentice, mentored by Brusk Korkmaz, CEO of Hercules
- Callum King, mineral products technician apprentice, mentored by Gary Brennand, general manager of Aggregate Industries
- Chloe Jones, construction plant operations apprentice, mentored by Patrick Flannery, MD of Flannery Plant Hire
- Malcolm Masi-Manyusa, commercial apprentice, mentored by Bevan Browne, MD of Tarmac
- Harry Wooldridge, plant operator apprentice, mentored by Merrill Lynch, joint MD of L Lynch
- Billy Mingard, rail engineer apprentice, mentored by Dan Evans, chief executive of Speedy Services
- Lucy Cole, business administration apprentice, mentored by Paul Raby, group HR director of Balfour Beatty
- Bethany Newton, commercial apprentice, mentored by Louise McCulloch, group director of communications and corporate affairs of Balfour Beatty
Leo Quinn said, “The infrastructure and construction industry is entering a new era of growth. With a well-documented skills gap, leaders must commit to training and nurturing the next generation. Doing so is a sure-fire way to ensure that industry has the people needed to deliver the pipeline of exciting projects whilst providing lifelong, successful careers to younger people.
“The Founder’s Pledge is one example of how industry can come together to nurture the future workforce, whilst clearly demonstrating the appetite from young people to grow, develop and thrive. Congratulations to all twelve of the apprentices who have graduated the year-long Founder’s Pledge mentoring programme and thank you to their mentors who supported their growth and development.”
The Rt Hon baroness Jacqui Smith added, “It’s fantastic to celebrate the achievements of these twelve apprentices and the success of the Founder’s Pledge. Mentoring programmes like this are vital to help apprentices. Congratulations to all the graduates, and thank you to the mentors for their dedication to developing the next generation of talent.”
Patrick Flannery, MD of Flannery Plant Hire, commented, “It was incredibly rewarding to be part of the Founder’s Pledge, mentoring and spending time with Chloe throughout her journey. The experience has provided me with valuable insights into the challenges apprentices face and has inspired us as a business to look into how we can provide them with the support they need to ultimately maximise completion rates.”
As part of their support, the apprentices attended regular training sessions throughout their mentorship and will also benefit from further career development training with Balfour Beatty’s HR team in January 2025.
